New York, Washington Donald Trump became the first ex-US president to appear before a federal judge on Tuesday. He had to appear in court in the city of Miami, the indictment relates to secret government documents that Trump is said to have illegally kept after his deselection in 2020.
In the early afternoon local time, TV pictures showed the Republican being driven to the building’s underground car park in a car. There he pleaded “not guilty”, as US media reported a little later.
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump left the city again on the plane. Trump was expected to fly to New Jersey. There he wanted to appear in front of supporters at his golf club in Bedminster on Tuesday evening (local time/02.15 a.m. CEST Wednesday). On Monday he had traveled from there to Miami.
Criminal-wise, this federal charge is the most serious yet for the Republican presidential candidate. If convicted, Trump faces up to 20 years in prison. But the case is not Trump’s only problem with the rule of law.
An overview of the legal construction sites of the ex-president:
Miami: The federal prosecution in the filing affair
Trump is charged with 37 felonies, 31 of them related to “willful withholding of national defense information,” according to the US Department of Justice’s indictment. This point falls under the US espionage law and can be punished with up to 20 years imprisonment. Other charges include conspiracy to obstruct justice and false testimony.
Trump is said to have deliberately withheld hundreds of classified documents he took with him to his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House. The footage was found next to a toilet, in a ballroom and in a bedroom during a raid.
According to the indictment, the files contained information about US and foreign government nuclear programs, defense and weapons capabilities, and a Pentagon “plan of attack.” The information, if disclosed, could have jeopardized military personnel, confidential sources and intelligence gathering methods, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Trump illegally took the secret documents to his Florida property.
(Photo: Justice Department via REUTERS)
In addition, Trump is said to have tried to hinder the government’s efforts to recover the documents. The ex-president suggested to his lawyer that the documents be hidden or destroyed.
Trump is the first former President in United States history to stand trial in federal court. He also wants to be the Republican lead candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
New York: criminal case for hush money payments
Trump was indicted in the New York borough of Manhattan in late March and appeared in court amid much media hype. It was the first time a former US president had been criminally indicted. Trump declared in court that he was innocent.
The case concerns hush money payments from 2016 to two former lovers, including ex-porn star Stormy Daniels. The start of the process is planned for the end of March next year, in the middle of the US presidential election campaign. The indictment consists of 34 counts, including falsification of business documents. If Trump can be proven to have intentionally deceived, he faces up to ten years in prison.
New York: Trump Organization rigged finances
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has announced a civil lawsuit against Trump for fraud. She is also suing Trump’s company and his children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka. The indictment alleges that the Trump family and the Trump Organization made the company’s assets larger or smaller than they actually were, depending on need: bigger to get loans, smaller to pay less taxes.
Deutsche Bank is also said to have granted loans based on exaggerated valuations, James explained. The Trump Organization is the holding company that unites the family’s hotels and real estate. “With the help of his children and the top executives of the Trump Organization, Donald Trump artificially inflated his fortune by billions of dollars to unfairly enrich himself and to trick the system – and by extension all of us,” James said.
She demands that Trump and his children resign from the Trump Organization and are no longer allowed to hold leadership positions in New York State. They are also expected to repay their financial benefits of $250 million.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Trump’s company is said to have reduced or increased its numbers as required.
(Photo: AP)
Mark Siegel, a professor of politics at the Center for Global Affairs at the renowned New York University (NYU), does not believe that Trump has to go to jail for this lawsuit. But “the detailed and documented fraud that is being accused here is to be taken very seriously,” says Siegel. Documents proved Trump’s responsibility. “The demands of $250 million could bankrupt the former president,” says the professor. It will also be almost impossible for him to do business in New York, Siegel points out.
Washington: The Storming of the Capitol
Donald Trump is also accused of fomenting a riot on January 6, 2021 when his supporters stormed the Capitol. He was acquitted of this charge in a political impeachment process in the Republican-dominated Senate.
However, there is still a threat of further proceedings at the federal level: the US Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation into the attack on the Capitol in addition to the indictment on the files affair. It’s not just about the role of the President, but also that of the people who stormed Congress.
Fulton County: Election interference in the US state of Georgia
Investigations into election interference are ongoing in the state of Georgia. There, a few days before the storming of the Capitol, Trump said to the state Secretary of the Interior, Brad Raffensperger, on the phone: “I only want to find 11,780 votes.” These votes would have brought Trump victory in the important state and clearly marked Joe Biden’s lead in the electoral college scaled down.
Trump asked Raffensperger to recount the votes in the state – prosecutors are investigating whether Trump was trying to unfairly influence the election.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
The phone call is documented. Trump called on Raffensperger to check the results again. But the voices were never found. Raffensperger told Trump: “We believe our numbers are correct.” Based on this phone call, prosecutor Fani Willis has launched an investigation into electoral interference in Georgia, which can result in fines or imprisonment. Trump calls the investigation a “witch hunt”.
New York: Civil trial in a rape case
In May, Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in a civil trial. Writer E. Jean Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
The jury did not find the rape allegation proven, but agreed with the accuser that Trump sexually abused her.
Now Trump’s lawyers want the process to be resumed or the amount of compensation drastically reduced. Carroll has a separate lawsuit pending against Trump in federal court in Manhattan. She accuses him of defamation because Trump publicly calls her a liar.
Can the procedures prevent Trump from running again in 2024?
In theory, prison sentences in particular could prevent Trump from being nominated again as the Republican presidential nominee. But for that to happen, there would have to be a conviction. Even as a businessman, Trump was known for having a whole army of lawyers who kept filing appeals and using other legal tricks to prolong proceedings. “That’s his modus operandi,” explains political scientist Siegel.
Should Trump be re-elected president in 2024, at least the document process would have to be put on hold. Because the Department of Justice has determined that incumbent US Presidents are protected from criminal prosecution at the federal level. According to experts, this also applies to the numerous other proceedings currently underway against Trump.
In any case, the US Constitution provides no obstacles for the accused and convicts to run for President. In 1920, Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debbs stood for election while serving a ten-year sentence for incitement to riot. Unlike Debbs, however, Trump has a realistic chance of winning the election.
If there is a guilty verdict during the election campaign, Trump could legally continue to run for the presidency – and take office if he wins the election, even if it is unclear how a possible prison sentence could be reconciled with this. There is simply no precedent in American history for this scenario.
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